Apr 9, 2025 - Politics

California is caught in the crosshairs of an escalating trade war with China

A choropleth map illustrating the estimated value of goods imported from China for each U.S. state in 2024. States like Texas, California, and Illinois imported over $20 billion, while many states in the Midwest and Northeast exported less than $5 billion. The overall estimated value is $433 billion. — Data: U.S. Census Bureau; Map: Axios Visuals

President Trump paused his sweeping reciprocal tariffs on everyone but China, a country California imported $123 billion in goods from last year.

Why it matters: Trump left a base tax of 10% in place across the world, in addition to duties on some industries, but raised the tariff on China to 125%.

Driving the news: China has issued sanctions against multiple San Diego companies as part of the escalating trade war.

Kratos Defense, Cubic Corp., Firestorm Labs, Source Intelligence, and Illumina have all been targeted.
The country added Shield AI, a startup valued last month at $5.3 billion, to its blacklist Wednesday.
Defense firms with large San Diego footprints Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics were also targeted last year.

Zoom in: In January alone, San Diego County imported $155 million in goods from China, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity.

A choropleth map illustrating the value of goods exported to China from each U.S. state in 2023. States like Texas, California, and Washington exported over $5 billion, while many states in the Midwest and Northeast exported between $1 billion and $2 billion. The overall estimated value is $144.9 billion. — Trade Partnership Worldwide via U.S.-China Business Council; Map: Axios Visuals

The big picture: California is among the states that exports the most to China, too.

In 2023, the state exported $16 billion in goods to China.

The bottom line: Trump has hinted that more tariffs are coming, but for now he's granted at least a partial, temporary reprieve to dozens of trading partners who were set to absorb the 11-50% taxes he announced last week.

A table shows where U.S. tariffs stand as of the afternoon of April 9, 2025. 10% base global tariffs and 25% tariffs on steel, aluminum, autos and auto parts are all active. A 125% tariff on China is now in effect. The assorted reciprocal tariffs announced April 2 are paused. — More than 75 countries are getting at least a partial reprieve from the 11-50% tariffs that Trump announced last week. Table: Axios Visuals

Go deeper: Where U.S. tariffs stand now.

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California is caught in the crosshairs of an escalating trade war with China

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